


Fortunate Fool

by carolinecrane



Series: pancake series [9]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-22
Updated: 2008-08-22
Packaged: 2017-10-22 23:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/243689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray's new to the team, but he's a fast learner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fortunate Fool

By the fourth day, Ray's the only member of the team who's still willing to work with Nick. Riley and Catherine are both 'sick of his attitude', according to them, but Ray hasn't really noticed. Nick does his job, and he lets Ray know when there's a better way to do his own job, and that's all that's important. If he's been a little shorter with the people around him since Greg left town...well, Ray's been there, so he understands. But the truth is he's too focused on all the new skills he has to learn to pay attention to anyone's personal issues.

It surprised him a little when he first learned that two of his team members were romantically involved. Even more surprising was the fact that they were openly gay -- discreet, certainly, but not a secret -- and that no one seemed to have an issue with it. They'd both been working in the crime lab for a long time, though, and he supposed their expertise was valuable enough to overlook any potential problems that might arise from their relationship. Still, they were in law enforcement, and if he'd ever stopped to consider it, he would have expected a little more prejudice.

The only person who's made a disparaging comment of any kind in his presence is Hodges. And in truth, it had sounded more like jealousy than actual malice, and that's a theory Ray's just as happy not to test. So he's minding his own business, doing his job and letting Nick do the same. He nods when Nick suggests he get a little more practice in on dusting for prints; he's not naive enough to believe Nick's doing it out of the goodness of his heart, but the truth is he does need the practice. So he doesn't argue, he just pulls out his kit and sets to work.

There's a certain meditative quality to fingerprinting; it's not the most rewarding part of the job, certainly, and there's a reason the rest of them try to get out of it as often as possible. But for now it's still a challenge, and Ray derives a certain pleasure in pulling evidence out of thin air, as it were. He's sure he'll take it for granted someday soon the way his teammates do, but so far he's still enjoying the process.

He's focusing on pulling a perfect print off a broken pane of glass when Nick finds him again, frowning down at his work for a moment before he comments. "Nice job. You're starting to get the hang of it."

"Thank you," Ray answers, glancing up long enough to smile his appreciation. Nick's not looking at him, though; he's focused on something just past the front door, and when Ray follows his line of sight he sees it right away. There's blood on the doorstep, a few perfect circles dripped onto the pavement, and then a smeared mess in front of the door, most likely destroyed by whoever was first on the scene. Ray watches Nick's neck turn an interesting shade of red, and before he even gets out of the house he's yelling at the nearest officer about incompetence and destruction of evidence.

And that's how Ray finds himself rounding up the shoes of every officer on scene, a fairly thankless task that provides quite a bit less of a sense of accomplishment than fingerprinting the front entry. The police officers aren't terribly pleased to be giving up their shoes, and they're not shy about letting Ray know that his status as a CSI makes him synonymous with Nick in their minds. Still, he has a job to do, and if it wasn't the first officers on the scene who destroyed their evidence, they need to rule it out so they can move on to other possibilities.

Still, Nick's generally more diplomatic when dealing with the police; he seems to be friendly with quite a few of them, as a matter of fact, so his current attitude makes the atmosphere even more tense than it has to be. Ray sighs his relief when he collects the last pair of shoes, carefully labeling the evidence bag with the officer's badge number and name before he sets it in the truck. When he turns to head back to the crime scene Captain Brass is standing in front of him, a wry grin on his face.

"You done with my people?"

"Yes, Captain...Jim. I think so."

"Good. Nick's not making himself any friends today. I never thought I'd be wishing Greg would hurry up and come home."

And he's a little surprised that even Jim knows about Nick and Greg, but then again, he's known them both for years. "It seems you're not alone in that sentiment," Ray tells him. "Just this evening Catherine was saying something about driving out to L.A. and dragging Greg back herself."

Jim laughs and claps Ray on the shoulder. "Tell her I'll chip in for gas."

Then he's walking back toward the crime scene tape separating the house from the sidewalk, leaving Ray to laugh at the image. He's still smiling about it when he walks back into the house to find Nick taking pictures of the glass on the foyer floor.

"All the officers' shoes are in the truck," he reports as he picks up his brush and the jar of dust and gets back to fingerprinting.

"Thanks," Nick says. For a few seconds he's silent, and Ray assumes that's all he has to say when he clears his throat and starts talking. "I guess I overreacted a little."

Ray shrugs without looking up, because he has his opinions, but he's still the rookie. "Best to be thorough."

"Right," Nick says, snapping another photo before he continues. "Usually it's the paramedics who mess up the scene, though. I don't know why I got so bent out of shape."

"We all react to disruptions in routine in different ways." He braces himself for Nick to snap or maybe even tell him to mind his own business, and he'd certainly have the right. But when he looks up Nick's laughing, and Ray smiles back at him.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Apparently." Ray's smile broadens when Nick shakes his head, grateful that Nick's willing to see the humor in his situation after four days of brooding. "When does he come home?"

"Tomorrow," Nick answers, ducking his head as his smile shifts, and Ray doesn't know any of them that well yet, but he recognizes love when he sees it. "So let's get this case wrapped up tonight. I'm not working a double if I can help it."

"Sounds like a plan," Ray says, smiling indulgently when Nick grins at him. He still has a lot to learn, but it's nice to be part of a team while he's learning it.


End file.
